Scientists have made a breakthrough in their efforts to combat ash dieback disease in the UK, as DNA sequencing reveals that many ash trees are rapidly evolving resistance to the fungal infection.
According to Richard Buggs at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the finding is positive news, but it’s unlikely to lead to complete resistance in the near future. A breeding programme will be necessary to help nature along and ensure the job is done.
The fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, native to Asia, causes ash trees to lose their ability to transport water, slowly destroying them. The disease spread rapidly across Europe in the 1990s and reached the UK in 2012, with devastating consequences for species that rely on ash trees for habitat.
The loss of ash trees also poses a risk to human life and property, as falling trees become more frequent. “There’s a lot of ash close to footpaths and roads that is now quite dangerous,” warns Buggs.
To study the impact of the disease, Buggs’ team compared the genomes of 128 adult European ash trees with 458 saplings at Marden Park in Surrey. The results showed that thousands of variants linked to resistance were more common in young trees, likely because those without them had died off due to the infection.
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2485999-ash-trees-are-rapidly-evolving-some-resistance-to-ash-dieback-disease